Back To Bliss: A Journey To Zero - Santosh Jha (best authors to read .txt) 📗

rather bewildered to see the type of welcome he received. Even later, he was a reluctant leader. He was led into situations by people who expected change from him even at a time when he was not sure what to do and how to approach the role he had landed into. But, even in situations where leadership was thrust upon him, he would not do things which people wanted him. He would do what his personal convictions called him to do. He would do things what he believed was morally right and not something which was required to change things. Things would change sometimes that is altogether the right coincidence but not always how he wished.”

“You mean to say, Gandhi was an accidental hero; a leader by coincidence of sorts”, Ashish said.

“Individual capacity has its limits Ashu...change is a big incident in history. I say it without offence meant for anyone that leaders are only as good as the crowd which makes them one. The same army which made Alexander a mighty conqueror also caused his doom. Often people now say Gandhi Ji has lost relevance in contemporary India. Today, the Indians have different icons. They expect different leadership, one which could bring about such changes that could make their lives more comfortable. Leaders just fit into a role which a particular environment creates a space for. Indians are now even changing their personal Gods, let alone their leaders. The crucial thing to understand is that an individual can show what goodness is but it is effected only when there is a favorable environment which ushers in people to accept and practice the goodness.”

“And you believe that environment is not favorable for you and there is not much you can contribute, so you have resigned”, Ashish attached prompt rejoinder.

“Actually, if you could see things from a different perspective, I am doing my small bit of efforts to create a favorable environment. However, it would be hypocrisy if I say I do not want to change quite a few things. But I know I cannot. I do feel very strongly about a few things and if I had a magical wand which could empower me to change the scenario in a jiffy, I would not take an extra second in doing it. But I know, even if I do it, it would not be sustained until a majority of people actually feel the importance and need of such changes.”

Guddi, who was listening to Mayank with rapt attention, looking all throughout in his eyes; rushed to the kitchen and came out with a large and shining silver spoon. She thrust it in the hands of Mayank and said, “Assume this as your magic wand and tell us what you want to do. The almighty above is listening to us and I am very sure, he will someday make your wish true. If he does not; he is not my God.”

Mayank had no words, nor the resource to pay back the goodness she showered on him. His eyes, as usual, would spill over the gratitude. Utkarsh could easily see the six oceans of compassion in his eyes and would envy his pride that he had a life partner who was still a billionaire of a wealth that God bequeaths to all humans at the time of their birth but they successfully squander in the long years they learn to live and actually live smartly. He closed his eyes in prayer of the almighty, thanking him for bestowing him such beautiful endowments like Guddi and Mayank, even as he joined his wife’s wish to make his friend’s wishes come true.

“There are endless wishes. Every time you step out of your house, every time you speak to someone, every time you start doing something, and a wish comes tumbling down. One life that we get is not enough for even one wish to get fulfilled, even when we devote all our energy and resources on it. Sometimes I really wonder; how God or nature could construct such a life mechanism on this earth which has so many loopholes and basic problems. You wish to do away with all of them. You actually have a tough decision to make; which one wish or desire you should consider as the most crucial, and more than that, which one desire you can actually contribute to and pursue to a fruitful end. You need to do a reality check on yourself.”

“Monku, let us not get bogged down by what we can do and what we cannot. A desire is independent of resource and capacity. A wish is important not because it is considered as first step of an attainment. It is because all wishes of heart, your pure emotions, are one of the most beautiful things in life. Tell us about the one wish that you would desire to get fulfilled in your lifetime”, Utkarsh prodded him.

“In my lifetime...! No..no, let us not see things this way. Anyway, it is said that success drifts away farther, the more you make effort to get it closer. I would rather pick my wish in terms of the larger good it involves for largest portion of humanity. Then, there is a second set of wishes which I have picked up on the basis of my own meaningful contribution to it; that is bringing about meaningful changes in media. My lifetime anyway is too miniscule a time frame for anything substantial to happen.”

“Okay; ladies and gentlemen, we now present the first non-contributing wish of our good friend and future editor-in-chief of some unfortunate newspaper”, Ashish announced, holding the silver spoon as a microphone.

“My first wish, when I was around 12, was that people around me could speak a language which should be respectable, decent, lovable and commensurate to the status humans enjoy in the intellectual hierarchy of creatures of the world. Later, when I could see the larger world, this wish became more broad-based. In all languages that we speak, there is so much abusive tongue; such crash overtones of sexuality and habitual use of bestiality. When I was a teenager, I could not understand why even dignified men of our society would speak such demeaning language. I am no expert but I feel; the language like most human creations has very loud and strong influence of sadomasochism in it. It definitely was a cruel world for early humans. The primeval definition of gain in terms of negation of loss influenced the concept of joys defined in terms of pains. Still, most humans think of pleasure in terms of lack of pains. The language which humans created and used in societal conversations naturally imbibed this primeval negativity. You will be shocked; even today, when the world is considered to be most civilized, even in high social spheres like corporate offices, they speak a language which is nothing but shameful. In my office, a media house, this is where language is bread and butter; even my editor and editorial colleagues would speak a language which they cannot speak in front of their mothers and sisters, even when they are drunk. It is very painful to see teenagers mouthing so much abusive and sexually embedded language. The growing liking among them and pride involved in mouthing slangs and cuss words of all languages only shockingly point at the ever-increasing sadomasochism even in contemporary times.

“You cannot blame we Indians for that Monku. The Americans, the acclaimed leader of world’s top civilized nations, speak far more slangs than us and the quotient of brat sexuality and bestiality in the languages of their teenagers is many times more than us”, Ashu said.

“That is why Ashu it is my first major wish. In today’s highly connected world, people have access to all cultures and they ape it fast, especially those whom we call our Generation Y. But you must know that even the Americans have not lost the whole of it. The good people even in America speak decent language. Rather, good people all over the globe speak dignified language. The American society has lot many good things but what we ape is what we get exposed to; through their many third-rated movies and most confused Hollywood and other pop icons. The real America has lots of good things to make others in the world learn from them. It is not their problem that we Indians or for that matter anyone else see and ape only the negatives of their pop-culture, which is just one aspect of their brilliant society and economy.

“This is the worst problem USA faces today. America is being perceived and imaged by the whole world through a media which so badly represents its socio-cultural reality. This bad media, like all media anywhere in this world is interested in showing only the pop and grey glamour of a minority chunk which do not truly represent America. This makes more enemies for the country and creates confused friends,” Utkarsh said.

“Confusion is the definitive reality of 21st century. One thing which defines all of us across the globe is confusion”, Ashish said making a face as serious as he could.

“You may be right Ashu but in India, out of this chaos and confusion, a beautiful and very prospective energy is being engendered, which we can say gives us hopes for a better society and culture. We are witnessing a great but very silent revolution in our society. Most revolutions are boisterous, built in frenzy, hold oceans of negativity and that’s why often demand huge amount of human blood. The revolution, I am seeing as building in India is slow but full of strong intent and it has little energy upfront but in the middle; a positive sign. If it rises above the negativity, it has the potential of bringing about a sustained and major change in our society in the right direction.”

Guddi had gone in the kitchen and had brought the pineapple juice in large glasses. Mayank looked at her and asked her to sit by his side. He held her hand in his and rubbed it gently.

“Guddi, you and millions of women like you are the hope and future of India and in the entire globe. This I say with complete sense of responsibility. I am happy and I see a great hope in the strongly rooted trend among average Indian women who are definitively holding the potential for a better society in future. Thankfully, it is not as fiercely reactive, as it was made to happen in America and Europe. Secondly, it is not competing with men for space in their world of stupid supremacy but building its own alternative identity. This will emerge in time as the basis of the new social order in India and will have the goodness and power to change the stinking global order built on men’s hypocrisy and sadomasochism. Initially, it is tough for women to even survive there. If a lady joins as a journalist in my office, she will face the same abusive and sexually explicit language from all corners. She will have two options, first to accept the language and start speaking it to compete with the men colleagues or she would fight a lonely battle to make her colleagues and superior change their language and speak a respectable one, at least when she is present. The good thing in India is that majority of women are struggling and waging a lonely and quiet resolve to change things and make the place become suitable to their ways of life. You can see it very clearly; Ashu would have never felt apologetic if Guddi too would drink with him and us. Men would definitely change and they are changing fast as our women, good and very intelligent women like Guddi are standing tall and making it count that men would have to accept the order and rules which they cherish. And, what the real Indian women cherish is our tested and very good lifestyle and life principles. I